11/2007 In These Times: Watchdogging Disaster

11/10/2007 Ben Smilowitz Comments Closed

In These Times

September, 2007

ACT NOW; Pg. 10

While working for the Red Cross in Mississippi during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Ben Smilowitz experienced firsthand the holes in the U.S. disaster relief system. “We had people waiting in lines for hours in the hot sun with no tents for shade and not enough water,” he says, “There were women holding babies, a couple women even gave birth waiting for checks.”

But Smilowitz says that when he “went public with [their] needs,” his job was threatened. “I was told if I talked to the media again, I would get fired. And I did.”

That’s why Smilowitz, a second-year law student at the University of Connecticut, created the Disaster Accountability Project, which launched on August 8. The project has collected hundreds of policy recommendations in response to the Katrina debacle from agencies ranging from the Government Accountability Office to disability and housing advocacy groups. On the website, www.disasteraccountability.org, individuals can see what recommendations have actually been carried out. The website provides a toll-free number that individuals can call to report gaps in disaster relief responses and services. The project will then report the problems to local and national media.

“Our system’s broken, public confidence is at an all-time low after Katrina, and the government is spending millions on preparedness,” says Smilowitz. “The public needs to know where we stand and who’s doing their jobs and who’s not.”

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